


Gone for a walk

by TheFrenchiestLlama



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dog Walking, M/M, Mutual Pining, they're in love they just don't know it yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-09-07 08:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8790949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFrenchiestLlama/pseuds/TheFrenchiestLlama
Summary: Sirius Black is a dog walker, and he is ceaselessly loyal to his customers. So, when a runaway dog tries to attack one of his own, you better believe that he'll give it's owner an earful.





	1. Part One: Sirius

**Author's Note:**

> When i found out that Sirius would canonically be a dog walker if he were a muggle I just had to write about it.  
> (my laptop royally fucked up and I had to re-post it :()

Sirius was a dog walker, four hours a day five days a week. It didn’t pay much, but it was enough to pay for his tiny flat and to buy him pizza rolls and toaster strudels once every week. Despite its downsides, however, Sirius felt like dog walking was his calling. He loved dogs, and they loved him, and he couldn’t think of any job he’d rather have.  
Sirius had been walking dogs for a living for a full year by the time he had perfected his route. He used to experiment, passing through the park or by the fancy suburban neighborhoods with perfect lawns, but he soon learned that that didn’t end well, and would sometimes end with a pure bred Shih Tzu trapped in the top branches of an eight foot tall elm tree (don’t ask).

  
So, bit by bit, he constructed his route. Don’t walk by the blue house when you’re walking Boomer the Doberman Pinscher because his arch enemy—a Chihuahua named Tina—lives there. Keep the Boston Terrier named Daisy away from wealthy neighborhoods with closely manicured lawns because she can’t seem to stop herself from defecating on them- an impulse that Sirius couldn’t say he didn’t respect.

  
In that way, Sirius felt in tune with his dogs. He knew which ones needed to be treated with a special respect, and which ones needed love despite their gruff demeanors.  
Sirius first met Remus on a sleepily hot day during the summer when what few uni classes Sirius attended were out and he could focus what little time he had on his job. He was walking five dogs, one of which was a young golden retriever named Henley. He was just a puppy, despite his considerable size, and even though he spent most of his time in a houseful of kids he still always seemed to have boundless energy.

  
Sirius was still trying to gauge what kind of walks Henley liked, testing his boundaries without letting the big lug totally get out of control, a mistake he had made before that resulted in a series of grass stains across the ass of his favorite pants. He was walking through a neighborhood of flats that he hadn’t passed through before when he heard the most mournful yowl before seeing a grey streak bound around the corner a block ahead and bolt towards him. Henley—large though he was, was apparently very easily scared, bolting across the street and pulling his leash out of Sirius’ hand. They grey streak turned on a dime to follow him, so Sirius did the only thing he could think to do, which was to follow Henley and pull the other four dogs along with him. Sirius managed to tackle the grey streak before it reached Henley, who was cowering in an alleyway.

  
The streak, which turned out to be a dog, struggled against Sirius’ arms before eventually giving up. Sirius got a good look at it, discovering that it was a storm cloud-colored greyhound with black spots. It had a collar, and the address on the collar was to a house right in the neighborhood.

  
Sirius retrieved Henley from the alleyway, and proceeded to pull the five dogs in his left hand and the collar of the greyhound in his right around the corner the mystery dog had originated from.

  
He found the house soon enough and knocked angrily on the door with the hand full of straining leashes.

  
After a few seconds the door opened up, revealing a tall, lanky guy about Sirius’ age. He was wearing a sweater despite the heat, and had sandy blonde hair that fell over a gaunt and pale face, lined with thin white—were those scars? Aside from this, however, Sirius noticed that he was quite handsome, despite the look of extreme astonishment on his face.

  
Now, Sirius and the people who knew him generally considered him to be a pretty laid-back guy, but there was one thing that he could get riled up over, and that was if someone hurt his dogs. So when the guy, whoever he was, opened the door, Sirius growled at him—sounding not unlike a dog himself.

  
He pulled the greyhound into the doorway, saying- “Is he yours?”

  
The man seemed confused by this question, eventually stuttering the words- “No, well, yes, but also-no…” Sirius glared at him, waiting for him to compose himself. “Yes, that is my dog.”

  
Sirius handed the collar over to the guy, who pulled the whining greyhound gently inside. “He was running down the street, almost attacked one of my dogs!” Huffed Sirius angrily. The guy’s olive-colored face reddened.

  
“Sorry about that, yeah. He’s not my dog, not really, he was my uncle’s. He just passed away—um, my uncle, not the dog—uh, and the dog was left to me. He’s tried to run away a bunch of times since I got him. He’s always been jumpy, but it’s even worse since my uncle died.”

  
“He seems to be more than jumpy.” Said Sirius, who had started to mellow out but was still a little miffed.

  
The guy rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, I guess. He- he was abused before my uncle had him. He doesn’t like anything he doesn’t already know.”

  
Sirius noticed the dog was standing next to the guy in the doorway, looking at him with an extremely sorry expression. Now that he had a better look at him, Sirius could see that the dog only had three legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments if you have any! They make me a better writer!


	2. Part Two: Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus Lupin is mortified when a handsome stranger arrives fuming at his door step. Why has everything seemed to go wrong for him since he got that godforsaken dog?

Remus had always been close to his uncle—he was the one part of his family that he had ever truly wanted to hold onto—but honest to god, why had he chosen to leave his dog to him? Logically, Remus could see where he had been coming from, they had always gotten along well and Remus was probably the only person in the family who he had trusted to take care of the dog. Emotionally, however, Remus would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little angry at his uncle. He had always hated dogs, having been attacked by one as a kid. Cats were always more his preference.

  
The fact that the dog (whose name was Drew) was missing one of his legs didn’t really do anything to ease Remus’ worries. He did get accustomed to having the dog around, eventually, although there were still nights when Drew would try to jump up onto the bed with him and Remus would jump and scream, thinking someone was breaking into his flat.

  
Summer had just begun, but Remus could hardly tell. He rarely went outside unless someone invited him somewhere, which wasn’t often, and his thermostat never wavered from 60 degrees, keeping him in sweaters and long sleeved shirts all through the summer.

  
Remus noticed Drew’s disposition for trying to escape early on, and although it was annoying he couldn’t say he blamed him. He was a damaged dog in more ways than one, Remus’ uncle had always been Drew’s only constant; anything new made him want to get away. But Remus knew that his uncle would return to haunt his ass if he let the dog run away and get hit by a car, so he took precautions. Remus never thought he’d have to know where to buy baby gates, and yet a week after getting Drew you could find him looking for them in the hardware store.

  
Drew got away twice during that first week, both times while Remus was taking him for a walk. He eventually caught him, though, and no serious harm was done to either of them.

  
The third time Drew ran away, however, things were different. Remus had no idea how Drew had gotten out, he had been safely penned into the living room. Had he left the door cracked when he’d gotten the mail? Had Drew figured out how to open the baby gates with his paws? Had a leprechaun snuck in and resolved to free Drew of his living room prison? It seemed possible. Remus didn’t even notice that the dog had escaped until he heard a knock at the door.

  
Opening the door Remus heard a growl that he assumed came from a feral dog but appeared to have come from the man standing on his doorstep.

  
The man at the door was Remus’ age and was struggling to hold Drew in one arm and five straining dogs in the other. He was also extremely handsome, with the kind of shiny and manicured black hair you wouldn’t expect from a young twenty-something guy. Thoughts rushed through Remus’ head the way they always did when he was nervous. How did he get Drew? Had he been wandering around the neighborhood kidnapping people’s dogs? Was he single?

  
The man at the door was fuming. He pulled Drew by the collar into the doorway, inquiring; “Is he yours?”

  
Remus struggled with this question. Was Drew his? Legally, yes, but emotionally he still belonged to Remus’ uncle. Remus tried to find a way to communicate these thoughts, eventually sputtering out; “No, well, yes, but also-no…” The man glared at him, waiting for a serious answer. Eventually Remus composed himself, saying; “Yes, that is my dog.”  
The man in the doorway handed the collar of a whining Drew over to Remus, who spirited him gently inside.

  
“He was running down the street, almost attacked one of my dogs!” the man motioned with the hand full of leashes. Were those all his dogs? Remus wondered. He could hardly handle one dog, how could this man handle five?

  
Great, Remus thought, seeing the angry look on the man’s face, the first attractive person I’ve talked to in weeks and he already hates me. Remus could feel his face reddening.  
“Sorry about that, yeah. He’s not my dog, not really, he was my uncle’s. He just passed away—um, my uncle, not the dog—uh, and the dog was left to me. He’s tried to run away a bunch of times since I got him. He’s always been jumpy, but it’s even worse since my uncle died.” Remus’ rambling thoughts released through his mouth like hot steam in one long run-on sentence.

  
The handsome guy’s anger seemed to be eased by this explanation.

  
“He seems to be more than jumpy.” He said, the hostility not quite gone from his voice.

  
Remus blushed even more, if that was possible, and he rubbed the back of his neck with an inexplicably cold and clammy hand. “Uh, yeah, I guess. He- he was abused before my uncle had him. He doesn’t like anything he doesn’t already know.”

  
The man’s eyes darted to Drew, who was trying to ram himself between Remus’ leg and the door frame. Remus could see the realization in his eyes, see his anger shift into pity. Pity that Remus had seen in people’s eyes multiple times before.

  
“Uh…oh.” Now it was the man’s turn to feel flustered. “Oh…okay.” Every muscle in his body seemed to decompress, and he transformed from an angry, barking dog into a normal young man seemingly before Remus’ eyes.

  
“Well then.” He said resolutely, signaling the end of the conversation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, which Remus took from him reluctantly.

  
“I apologize. Call if you ever need a dog walker.”

  
Remus watched the man disappear around the street corner before looking down at the piece of paper in his hands.  
It was a business card. It said, in a playful font “Sirius Black, Dog Walker” with a phone number underneath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (It says "in a playful font" but in reality Sirius' business card is in comic sans)  
> Leave comments if you have any! they help me become a better writer.


	3. Part Three: James & Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius can't stop thinking about the owner of the three-legged dog. he consults his best friend James about the encounter.

After all five dogs had been returned to their owners, Sirius walked sleepily back to his flat. It was almost six o’clock.

  
When he walked in, the first thing he noticed was that all of his lights were on. The second thing he noticed was the sound of video games being played in his living room. Sirius immediately went up on his toes, trying his best not to be heard. He’d always had a talent for stealth.

  
He tip-toed to the doorway of his sitting room before jumping out, letting out a loud yell.

  
Sirius’ friend James, who had previously been sitting on his futon playing video games was suddenly on the floor, screaming like a small child. Sirius began to laugh, harder than he should have. After a couple seconds of angry glaring, James began to laugh, too.

  
“Oh, man” Said James through the giggles “I’m not even mad. I should’ve anticipated that.” Sirius nodded, smiling, and plopped himself down next to his best friend on the futon. “Whatchu playin?”

  
“Resident Evil 4.” Said James, who was already becoming totally enthralled in the game once again with all the laser focus of a kid with ADD who had just taken his Adderall, which James very well could’ve been. “This is it. This is the time that I’m going to beat your record.”

  
Sirius and James had a long-standing bet that James wouldn’t be able to beat Resident Evil 4 without dying, something Sirius had done when they were eleven. Sadly, James was absolutely abysmal at video games. Sirius’ pat his friend on the back, more condescendingly than encouragingly. “I believe in you, buddy.” He did not.

  
“Yeah, right.” He heard James mutter under his breath.

  
It wasn’t long before Sirius was standing again. He rarely stayed in one place for more than five minutes and even then he was constantly tapping some part of his body, or messing with his hair until he eventually had to put it up in a samurai bun to keep himself from fiddling with it.

  
So, to have something to do, he began turning off all the lights that James had left on. “Man,” he yelled from the kitchen “Why do you always have to do this when you come to my house?” There was a couple seconds of silence before he heard James reply; “This game is scary! How do you expect me to maintain my delicate and ladylike constitution in the face of such terror?” He trilled, sounding uncannily like Sirius. “Yeah, well” replied Sirius, “I’m the one who has to pay the electricity bill!”

  
“Exactly!” James laughed.

  
It wasn’t as if Sirius could judge James for being disorganized. The floor of his whole flat seemed to be filled wall-to-wall with clothes and empty boxes of food. Plus, there was a smell coming from under his oven that he had been too afraid to investigate. For someone who had come from an extremely posh family, Sirius was surprisingly averse to cleaning.

  
After Sirius completed his task he returned to the sitting room, which now had the T.V. as its only light source.

  
“Okay, you HAVE to hear what weird thing happened to me today.” Sirius often seemed to attract weird occurrences, and James was always ready to listen. So, like a good friend, he paused the game and looked to Sirius, chin balanced on his fist.

  
“This dog freaking tried to attack one of my usuals. I had to drag him back to his owner’s house.” James arched an eyebrow. “What did the owner say?”

  
“Turns out the dog belonged to his dead uncle. He’d been abused. I hadn’t even noticed that the dog was missing a leg until the guy pointed it out.” Sirius began to tap his fingers on his thigh, suddenly remembering how awkward the whole ordeal had made him feel. “I was pretty ashamed.”

  
James let out a curt laugh. “That’s a first.” But when he saw Sirius’ expression his face changed. “So, how hot was the guy?”

  
Sirius sputtered incredulously, instantly denying the idea that he’d taken any notice of the guy’s appearance. How dare James suggest such a thing? He was talking at a thousand miles an hour the way he always did when he knew someone had gotten the better of him. As he spoke, James’ smile grew continuously bigger. He laughed.  
“Yeah, right. Sirius; I’ve known you long enough to know that someone has to be really cute to get you to admit that you’re wrong.”

  
Finally, Sirius conceded. “I mean… I guess he was kind of cute…”

  
Suddenly, there was a click from the doorway that was a prelude to the sound of Sirius’ door opening. James’ girlfriend Lily walked in with a gigantic bag slung over her back. She dropped it to the floor.

  
Sirius jumped to his feet. “Jesus Christ! You two do realize that this is MY apartment, right?” Lily laughed him of as she kicked her bag down the hallway. “Well, James’ wasn’t at the apartment, so I figured he was here, cheating on me with you. And look,” she motioned to her boyfriend. “I was right.”

  
Sirius sat back down on the futon and crossed his arms. He wasn’t really angry, though. He respected Lily’s knack for making men feel inferior. That’s why he liked her so much, and he suspected it was part of the reason James loved her.

  
Lily stepped in the living room and perched herself on the arm of the futon, her arms slung over those of her boyfriend. “So, you’ll never believe what happened to my friend today.”

  
“What happened, honey?” James said lovingly as he put his arm around her shoulder. They were sickeningly adorable and it took all the self-control Sirius had not to roll his eyes.

  
“His dog ran away and tried to attack another dog. This cute guy who had been walking the other dog freaking flipped out on him.”  
James and Sirius shared a look.

  
“Uh Lily, there’s a story we should tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have comments share them! They help me become a better writer!


	4. Part Four: Lily and Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, Remus can't keep the thought of his encounter with the dog walker out of his head. He goes to his friend Lily for advice about the incident.

Black, Black, Sirius Black…. Where had Remus heard that name before? Something about it seemed distantly familiar, like something he had heard said by a news anchor on a TV in a pub when he was drunk or only half listening.

  
He spent the next hour working, which was what he always did when he needed to keep his mind off of something that was bothering him. He became so enthralled in his work, however, that he didn’t even realize that there was someone in his house until they were literally standing over him.

  
“In my experience it’s a good idea to actually lock you doors.” Said Lily.

  
Remus let out a yip and almost fell out of his chair, staring up at her with wide eyes. Lily giggled. “You’re lucky you can afford to live in such a nice neighborhood. If I ever left my door unlocked in my neighborhood I’d probably die.” She remarked as she wandered over to the couch across from Remus work desk, plopping her heavy backpack on his coffee table.

  
Lily was one of Remus’ only friends at uni. She was extremely nice to Remus despite his shyness and the fact that she seemed to be way more popular than he was. People said that she was dating one of the most popular guys at the school, although that was just gossip and Remus didn’t generally pay attention to that kind of thing.

  
“I came to bring back some of the books you loaned me.” She started pulling books out of her bag, some of them textbooks and some of them books Remus had suggested for her to read (it wasn’t every day that Remus found someone with the same reading tastes as he did). He thanked her and started returning them to their empty spaces on the bookshelf.

  
“So,” she said, watching him rearrange the shelves; “Do you have any other books you think I’d like?”

  
Remus stared intently at his bookshelf before pulling off a thick paperback book and handing it over to Lily. She looked it over, saying; “Oh, this is Infinite Jest! I’ve already read this one, I read it when I was sixteen.”

  
Remus raised his eyebrows incredulously.

  
“You finished it?! I don’t even think I’VE finished it!” Lily was always full of surprises. She laughed at his exclamation. “Then why did you suggest it to me?” Remus shrugged; “It seemed like something you would like, and it turns out I was right!” They both laughed.

  
Just then, Remus considered telling Lily the story of the dog walker. If anyone were to have insight on the event, it would be her. Lily was an extremely insightful person.  
So, he sat down next to her on the couch. “So, do you want to hear a weird story?” he asked, as nonchalantly as he could.

  
“Sure.”

  
So he told her about his weird encounter with the dog walker, and she listened in her intense way that let you know she cared.  
At the end of the story Lily’s face was almost as red as her hair.

  
“What an asshole!” she exclaimed, standing. “How dare he yell at you like that! And Drew is disabled! He had no right to do that!” (At the moment Drew was penned up in Remus’ bedroom. He wasn’t going to make the mistake of keeping him in the sitting room again).

  
Remus blushed. “I, uh… It really wasn’t that bad. He couldn’t have known about my uncle or about Drew, and he really did feel sorry about it.”

  
Lily crossed her arms. She seemed dead set on being angry about the situation, and Remus couldn’t say that he wasn’t unhappy with the fact that Lily was showing so much concern for him.

  
Suddenly, Lily’s eyes shot to the clock on Remus’ desk. “Oh, damn. I have to get home, but we should definitely get together sometime soon and talk about this incident.” She grabbed her bag off the table and waved as she left. The last thing he heard as she left was “Remember to lock the door behind me!”

  
Remus smiled, but it didn’t last long. For the rest of the day he was absorbed with a strange feeling about the meeting with the dog walker. Black, Black, Sirius Black…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment if you have one!


	5. Part Five: Sirius and Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, Sirius can't keep his mind off the owner of the disabled dog. He has so many questions: will he ever call the number he gave him? and most importantly; did he recognize him?

Sirius Black did not like not knowing things. He didn’t like feeling left out, and yet at the moment he was feeling totally out of the loop. How was it possible that Lily had known the mysterious dog-owner? (Whom Sirius had recently learned was named Remus) How had she not thought to introduce him to this cute stranger previously? (Lily said it was because he was shy but Sirius was still partially sure that she had multiple hot friends she was keeping from him).

  
In the end, all of Sirius’ confusion came down to this; the world did not revolve around him, and while he knew that this was true in theory, he was having a hard time accepting the idea when it was put into practice.

  
As James explained the situation to Lily (she had been very angry at him at first but he had eventually convinced her that he was sorry enough), questions floated around in Sirius' head. Would Remus ever call the number that Sirius had given him? Was he in need of a sexy dog walker with amazing hair? (It sure seemed so, considering how eager that dog at had been just to go outside.) And, most importantly, had Remus recognized him? Had he realized who he was after seeing the name written on the business card, and decided that having a dog walker wasn’t worth it after all?

  
Being a part of a wealthy family so steeped in scandal and intrigue wasn’t as fun as it sounded. Despite having escaped his horrible family, the Black family name and the bad reputation that surrounded it seemed to follow Sirius no matter how much he ran and no matter how much he tried to stay under the radar; the rumors always found him, eventually.

  
All those unfounded rumors of incest between first cousins and money made through nefarious means (all of which Sirius could confirm were true, by the way), they were always there, no matter how small. And he wanted none of it.

  
Lucky for him, James and later Lily managed to stick by him, and eventually he learned how to shrug off the requests for interviews about the latest scandal until they lost interest and forgot about him. Things would still catch up to him every once in a while, a cashier or someone on the street would recognize him and sneer, or he would be denied a job due to his ancestry (“Why should I bother to give you a job? Your family’s rich as balls”). He had figured out how to ignore these instances, he just hoped this wouldn’t be one of those times.

  
After things had calmed down, (Lily had fully confirmed Sirius’ guilt over yelling at her friend) and James had once again failed to beat Sirius’ record at Resident Evil, Lily insisted they all go to bed.

  
Since it was a bit too late for the two drive back to their apartment, James and Lily slept on the couch and in the guest bedroom respectively (AKA James claimed to want to sleep on the couch but would sneak into the guest bedroom after Sirius went to bed and Sirius would just pretend not to know).

  
Sirius was prone to complaining about the two of them being so irresponsible that they had to sleep over (this happened often), but that night he was fine with it.  
For some reason her was afraid to be alone in the flat with only his thoughts for company.

 

 

The next morning at ten o’clock Sirius awoke to rediscover another upside to having James sleep over; he made amazing breakfasts. This has been a fact since they were kids, although it was always a pleasant thing to re-learn.

  
After ten more minutes of lying in bed question whether or not to get up (as was his morning ritual), Sirius decided it was worth it and wandered into the kitchen after putting on pants and combing his hair.

  
Sirius’ tiny kitchen was full of light and the smell of cooking bacon, and somehow the events of the day before seemed smaller in his mind. He decided to try and enjoy himself.  
James had seemingly conjured out of thin air ingredients that Sirius didn’t even think he had. He had made breakfast sandwiches with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and rye bread. The kitchen counter was littered with trash and dirty plates, as was custom whenever James cooked anything. They all sat around Sirius’ tiny kitchen table, too invested in eating to speak.

  
Lily finished first and began to take her dishes to the sink after pecking her boyfriend on the forehead and thanking him (Sirius wondered if she got to eat like this every morning since she lived with James, and suddenly he was immensely jealous). Once her back was turned she said nonchalantly; “Oh, and I called Remus earlier this morning.” (At that point Lily had already been awake for at least two hours).

  
Sirius almost spit out his drink, but he tried his best to keep it together.

  
“What did you say to him?” his voice wavered and he saw James suppress a smile, but he powered on.  
“I just told him about how I knew you, and that you were very sorry.”

  
“And what did he say?”

  
“He seemed fine with it. You’re off the hook.” Sirius smiled to himself, although he wasn’t sure why.

  
Just then, Sirius’ phone rang. It was sitting face down on the table, and when it rang it made the whole table shake. As it sounded, Sirius stared at it like he was the deer and the phone was a pair of high beams.

  
No one ever called him. No one ever called anyone anymore. James looked at him, one eyebrow raised; “Are you gonna answer?”

  
Sirius picked it up. It was an unknown number, but it could be a very well be a client. He pushed the button and put the phone up to his ear.

  
“Hey, um this is Remus. Y’know, the guy from yesterday, I, uh, I wanted to enlist your services as a dog walker?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave any comments you might have, they make me a better writer!


	6. Part Six: Remus and Sirius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus gets a revealing call from Lily, and finally calls the dog walker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little uneventful, but only because i'm winding up for some serious plot progression.  
> Leave comment if you have any, they're very helpful for me!

Usually, Remus enjoyed having time alone. He often found being around people tiring and not worth the trouble, but that night he desperately wanted some company. His thoughts were suffocating and overly negative, and no amount of distraction could take his mind off of them. He considered calling Lily multiple times to see if she wanted to hang out, but he didn’t feel like bothering her so late.

  
Remus refused to do a google search of the dog walker’s name. It felt intrusive and…wrong.  
He hardly slept that night.

 

 

The next morning was a day off for Remus, and he was woken up by the hum of his phone sounding off mere inches from his head. He squinted at the screen for ten groggy seconds before he realized that Lily was calling him.

  
Why? His brain asked blearily. Why is she calling me so early in the morning (It was actually nine o’clock but whatever)? Who makes phone calls anymore?

  
By the time Remus was done with his thought process, the phone had stopped ringing.

  
He sat up in bed and prepared himself to call back.

  
“Hi Remus!” Lily’s voice was way too cheerful and awake for the time of day. “Hey Lily, uh, you called?” Remus’ voice, on the other hand was scratchy and low, betraying his tiredness.

  
Lily’s laugh was bright, too. “Haha, did I wake you?”

  
Suddenly, Remus was a little embarrassed of sleeping in. it wasn’t something he usually did. “Uh, yeah, actually.”

  
“Oh, sorry. I just wanted to tell you something.”

  
Lily proceeded to drop a total bomb on Remus, a bomb he thought was way too big to be dropped on anyone right after they wake up in the morning.

  
“So-yeah-uh, what I’m saying is, I just wanted to let you know that he’s really sorry. Don’t worry, I gave him hell for you.” Remus hadn’t spoken in at least a minute.  
“Uh…” Remus was at a loss for words, a sensation he wasn’t very familiar with. “That’s good to know, uh, thanks.”

  
Lily didn’t waver. “Alright well, I just wanted to let you know that, OK? We’ll talk to later.” She hung up, once again leaving Remus alone with his thoughts.

  
He sat in his bed for thirty more minutes that morning, mulling over the conversation with Lily in his head. The overall improbability and cosmic significance of what had happened wasn’t lost on him. What were the chances that Lily had known the mysterious dog walker? Mostly, however, Remus was focused on one specific thing that Lily had said;

  
“He seemed pretty ashamed. I think he might have a tiny crush on you.”

  
Was this true, or was Lily just kidding? The world may never know.

  
Remus would’ve stayed in bed for the rest of the day if Drew didn’t once again escape from his baby gates and nose his way into his bedroom, jumping onto Remus’ bed and wildly licking his hands. He was hungry and restless.

  
Remus got up and poured dog food into Drew’s bowl before pouring himself a bowl of cereal (it wasn’t unusual for Drew’s meals to have better nutritional values than his owner’s).

  
He set his phone down on his coffee table and sat on is couch with the bowl of cereal in his lap, staring down at the grey box like it was his worst enemy.

  
He picked it up and stared at the black glass. He knew what he wanted to do, but he was never good at making phone calls. He was about to put in the number when he realized that the card of the dog walker was still in his bedroom, on his bedside table.

  
Two minutes later and the phone was back in his hand. The number had been entered in and the last thing that he had to do was press the button to call, but he was still hesitating.

  
A minute later he finally pressed the button. He put the phone up to his ear, letting it ring for a couple seconds. He was about to hang up in embarrassment when he hears a click, but no voice.

  
“Hey, um this is Remus. Y’know, the guy from yesterday, I, uh, I wanted to enlist your services as a dog walker?” He said tentatively. There’s a couple more seconds of silence, and Remus wonders if he was mistaken and that there’s actually no one on the other side.  
“Do I… have the right number?”

  
Finally, there’s a gruff reply; “Oh, yeah, it is. That’s cool, when would you like me to show up?”

  
Remus pauses for a second. He hadn’t thought ahead this far. “Uh… how about Wednesday?”

  
“It’s a deal!” Sirius said, perhaps a bit too hastily, before hanging up.


	7. Part Seven: Sirius and Drew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius prepares himself to walk Drew for the first time. Goddammit, why is he so nervous?

Sirius’ stomach was in knots for the next week, and he couldn’t exactly put his finger on why. He tried to let his mind drift as he worked the way it did whenever he was walking a group of dogs, but it didn’t seem to be as effective as usual.

  
It was absolutely inexplicable to Sirius why he was so nervous to do something that he did almost every day, something he was actually paid to do.

  
What peeved him the most, however, was that Lily and James were pretending that they knew why he felt that way. It was absolutely infuriating; the knowing glances and smirks between the two of them as his stomach churned for the next five days. Once he even suspected that he had almost caught them whispering about him when he walked in on them in the kitchen looking like their conversation had just been cut short.

  
When Wednesday finally arrived, Sirius spent an hour preparing himself and making sure that he didn’t betray his own anxiety. He must’ve taken his hair in and out of a ponytail a million times, trying to decide which looked better until his scalp hurt and he decided to leave it down.

  
He hadn’t booked any other clients that day, figuring that it wasn’t safe to take the chance. Plus, he wanted to give Drew special attention.  
He drove along the longest route he could think of to Remus’ house. He took so many wrong turns on the way there that an educated observer might think that he was doing it intentionally.

  
He finally did reach the house, however, and he definitely didn’t sit in his car for three extra minutes before actually walking up and knocking at the door.  
His client answered wearing the same jumper as he had been when they’d first met, except more disheveled. He had almost imperceptible grey bags under his eyes, like he’d gotten in a fistfight with a ghost.

  
Remus’ mouth twitched after answering the door, but before he could say anything, a familiar hulking mass bounded down the hallway behind Remus and pushed past him to tackle Sirius so hard that he fell off the front steps.

  
Expecting a bite, Sirius instead received giant slobbering kisses all over his face and dancing paws on his chest.

  
He couldn’t help but laugh until he saw Remus standing over him, an extremely appalled look on his face. Suddenly Sirius was blushing and struggling to stand.  
Remus’ hands hovered over Sirius’ shoulders, like he was scared to touch him but still wanted to be sure that he was okay.

  
“Are you alright?” His voice was raspy, like it was the first time he had spoken in days. Sirius nodded, smiling again. “Yeah, don’t worry. It’s my job to handle dogs like this.” Remus looked relieved.

  
Drew had settled a little, and now he sat on the doorstep licking Sirius’ hand furiously. “Is this even the same dog that I meant last week?” he joked lamely.

  
Remus rubbed the back of his neck. “He has good days and bad days.” Somehow, Sirius felt like he had struck a cord and immediately felt sorry.

  
“So what’s your rate? I forgot to ask on the phone” asked Remus, suddenly businesslike. Sirius paled. He had forgotten, too. He spat out an arbitrary number and Remus nodded. “Alright, well, bring him back whenever you want, or until he’s tired out. That shouldn’t be hard; I’ve been too busy to walk him a lot lately.” Suddenly Sirius felt even sorrier for the poor dog.

  
The walk went even better than Sirius had expected. What Drew lacked in number of legs he made up for in energy, although Sirius credited that partly to his lack of exercise. In fact, Sirius could hardly keep up with the dog, which wasn’t something that happened often.

  
He walked him through the park for a change of pace, and Drew was clearly grateful. He was actually very well disciplined, and while he did strain towards the occasional squirrel, he never barked or even made a sound. Remus must’ve been right; Drew was definitely having one of his good days.

  
The rest of the day went smoothly, with Sirius dropping off the dog and picking up his fee from Remus as they made pleasant small talk. It wasn’t until he was back at home, sitting and watching TV that he realized that his butterflies from earlier that day had totally dissipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments, they make me a better writer!


	8. Part Eight: Wasabi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus can hardly keep it together after getting a dinner invitation from Lily, but he doesn't really understand why. Is he excited, or nervous?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's that plot progression i was telling you about, enjoy!  
> As usual, please leave any comments you might have!

It was almost a month before Remus and Sirius had another meaningful conversation.

  
I mean, they would made the tedious small talk (the kind that usually caused Remus to want to throw up) whenever Sirius came over to pick up or drop off Drew, but that meant close to nothing (although Remus was much more willing to make small talk with Sirius than he was with other people).

  
No, it wasn’t until two weeks later that they spoke in a way that wasn’t either yelling or talking about the weather.

  
It all started when Remus got a call from Lily one night as he watched some made-for-TV movie that was actively putting him to sleep. He sat up so quickly when he heard the phone ring that he was suddenly ashamed by how starved he was for human interaction.

  
“What’s up?” He asked after answering the phone, trying his best not to sound like the neediest person on earth.

  
“Hey, Remus.” She said. “Nothing much, but I wanted to ask you something.”

  
Remus nodded before realizing that Lily couldn’t actually see him do it and said; “Sure, what is it?”

  
“Well, uh, James and I were gonna go to dinner, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with.” She paused to laugh, more to herself than to Remus. “Honestly, we just wanted someone to split the bill with.”

  
Remus was fine with that, he knew for a fact that he was better off financially than most of his friends.

  
“Sure, where and when?”

  
Lily told him about the location, a new sushi place near her and James’ flat. Before she hung up, she added almost as a footnote; “By the way, Sirius will be there, too.”

  
Upon hearing the last part Remus almost choked on his own spit and started coughing so hard he thought he might die. “Hey, are you all right?” Asked Lily on the other end, worry suddenly worming its way into her tone.

  
Remus took a deep breath and wiped his mouth. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He gasped, a bit embarrassed. After a couple more seconds he said, more confidently; “Alright, I’ll be there.”  
“It’s a date then.” Concluded Lily, handing up before he had the chance to respond.

  
As Remus thought back on the phone call he found that there was a lot to unpack. He tried desperately to organize all the thoughts running around wildly in his head and came up with three main points:

  
1) “James and I were gonna go to dinner”  
This sentence confirmed something the Remus and a lot of the other people at uni had suspected for a while; Lily was dating one of the most popular (or at least most talked about) guys at the school; James Potter. This didn’t really surprise him, however; knowing what he did about the two of them they seemed almost perfect for one another. Although, he had heard that they had had a heated courtship, with James ending up a much better person than he had started out as.

  
2) “By the way, Sirius will be there, too.”  
There was a lot that bothered Remus about this particular quote. Firstly, Remus was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that Sirius and Lily had already known each other. Secondly, there just seemed something ultimately wrong about the way she said it almost as an addendum, like she had almost forgotten to say it at all. Remus felt like she was treating the fact way too nonchalantly when it seemed like such a big deal in Remus’ head.

  
3) “It’s a date then.”  
In this case, it felt almost as if Lily was mocking him, although Remus couldn’t quite put his finger on how.

  
Remus could hardly sit still for the next day and a half. He got almost no work done, his usual diligence traded in for constant jitteriness (a horrible trade in Remus’ opinion).  
By the time the day of the dinner came around Remus had achieved an almost Zen-like state through his constant worrying. He was perfectly calm, his heart rate steadier than it had been in years.

  
That is, until he reached saw Lily and James’ car drive up, at which point his anxiety started right back up again. For some reason the car drive to the restaurant was one of the most nerve-racking experiences of his life, although he chalked it up partly to it being the most social interaction he’d been through in days.

  
The best thing to come out of the drive was that Remus and James clicked almost immediately. Despite his reputation as an idiotic jock, James was surprisingly insightful and had the kind of dry sense of humor that Remus really appreciated. He helped him calm down a lot, and Remus quickly saw why Lily liked him.

  
When they arrived at the restaurant Sirius hadn’t arrived yet (“Don’t worry, that man hasn’t been early to something a day in his life” was Lily’s explanation). The three seated themselves on authentic cushions instead of seats, and suddenly Remus remembered the one other upside to the trip; he loved Sushi.

  
“I hate Sushi.” Said James, his voice deadpan as he stared down at the menu. Lily laughed, punching him playfully on the arm. “That’s strong words from a guy who’s such a good cook.” She said, and Remus collected this information and let it color his opinion of James.

“Ugh, there’s just something about raw meat.” Lily laughed again and turned to Remus, who was starting to feel a bit like a third wheel. “How about you, Remus? What do you think of sushi?”

  
“I like it a lot, actually.” It was the truth. He liked raw meat, for whatever strange reason. It was like some savage version of himself manifesting in what he ate, trying to get out.  
Lily looked past Remus at something behind him and said; “How about you, what’s your opinion on Sushi?” Remus turned to see Sirius looming over him. Remus suddenly felt his appetite draining away.

  
“Oh, I love it.” replied Sirius, as he sat down on the cushion directly next to Remus (his choice of seating made Remus want to disappear from existence). “There’s just something about raw meat.” Continued Sirius. He smiled in greeting at Remus, but didn’t say anything.

  
Lily looked at her boyfriend. “Looks like you’re outnumbered.”

  
“Yeah, well, you were the one who wanted to come here, not me.”

  
The dinner went surprisingly well, although Remus didn’t have much to compare it to (He’d been to tragically few dinners with friends in his life).

  
He spent way too much time staring at Sirius’ man-bun. How was it that such a weird fashion choice had suddenly become so wildly attractive in Remus’ eyes?

  
All in all Sirius was just as charming and funny as Remus had expected him to be, and Remus was just as painfully awkward as he’d always suspected he was. Remus did learn one thing, however; Sirius was also a huge drama queen.

  
When dared by James to put all of his wasabi on a single sushi roll Sirius did it without hesitation, and in less than a minute he was on the ground, his face bright red, saying that he was going to die but before he did he was going to curse James’ first born child. Lily laughed so hard she snorted, and James looked at Remus with his eyebrows raised and said; “Some people just can’t handle their wasabi.” Before smiling slyly in a way that gave Remus the sneaking suspicion that this exact thing had happened before.

  
When it was time to leave, Remus’ unease began acting up again. James stood first after everyone had finished paying and said; “Well, Lily and I gotta get home.” He turned to Remus. “Would you mind if Sirius drove you home? He lives closer to your house.”

  
Remus paled, and had to consciously steady himself before deciding to speak. “I—that’s fine with me as long as Sirius it okay with it.”

  
James looked at Sirius, who was suddenly so pale he was almost green (Remus assumed he was still nauseous from the wasabi). He simply nodded. Just then Remus realized how much he had been hoping that Sirius would say yes, but as soon as he did Remus regretted it.

  
All four of them walked back to the parking lot. Remus caught up to James and leaned in towards him. “How do I know which car belongs to Sirius?” he whispered, and James smiled. “Oh, don’t you worry. You’ll know it when you see it.”

  
Remus was extremely unhappy with this vague reply, but he trusted James; and it turned out he was right. Remus did know the car when he saw it.  
It was bright pink, a color that suddenly seemed absolutely fitting for a car belonging to Sirius Black.

  
Remus didn’t know cars that well, but he could tell that this one was an expensive one, all sleek lines and chrome accents. To top it all off, on the side there was a giant decal reading “SB DOG WALKING COMPANY: YOUR DOGS LOVE US” in bold lettering, accompanied by a familiar phone number. If Remus had been a bigger fan of classic cars he might have seen the decal as a bit disrespectful, but in this case it was just funny.

  
He leaned back over to James and whispered; “How can he afford a car like that?”

  
James expression was incredulous, like Remus had just asked him what a car was. “Do you seriously not know?” he said, his voice tight. Remus was becoming more confused by the second, and he shook his head “Know what?”

  
Lots of thoughts seemed to go through James’ head all at once, and the gears turning in his head were almost visible. “Let’s just say.” He replied after a while. “His family’s really rich, and Sirius resents that.” He motioned to the car. “He tried to buy the ugliest car he could find just to spite them.”  
Remus smiled, filing away this fact. There was something inherently candid and charming about it.

  
He waved at Lily as she got into her car, trying to hide the fact that his hands were shaking pretty bad. When he sat down in the passenger seat of Sirius’ car (which smelled, unsurprisingly, like dogs) he balled them up in his lap in an attempt to get them to settle down.

  
Remus passively watched as James stood in the parking lot and said something to Sirius, something that made Sirius’ hands turn into fists. He didn’t really understanding what they were talking about. Suddenly he realized how tired he was.

  
Sirius climbed into the car, slammed his door, and started driving without saying a word to Remus. He seemed almost angry about something, and Remus felt guilty for a reason he didn’t fully understand. For some reason he sensed that Sirius anger had something to do with him.


	9. Part Nine: Car Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius feels strangely awkward whenever he's around Remus. The awkwardness intensifies when he has to drive him home after learning some important information from James.

Sirius’ butterflies disappeared for a whole month after his first time walking Drew, and he was back to his normal self. He hoped that his strange bout of anxiety was over for good.

  
He enjoyed walking Drew, perhaps even more than he enjoyed walking any other dog (although he wasn’t going to let any of the other dogs know that). Drew was always energetic and as long as Sirius kept him away from big crowds and places with lots of animals he stayed calm.

  
Remus reported that the dog was improving greatly, and that he no longer felt the need to keep him penned up in a single room of the house. Sirius could see how the walks might be helping Drew- he would be stressed, too, if he suddenly had to move to an enclosed space, everything consistent in his life having been taken away from him.

  
Sirius was tempted to ask what had happened to Drew that had cost him his leg, and was even more enticed to ask Remus where his scars had come from, but he knew better than to ask. He didn’t like it when people questioned him about his past, and he was courteous enough to afford other people the respect he expected from them.

  
Sirius had pretty much given up on his relationship with Remus becoming anything more than an employee-employer one when Lily suggested they go to dinner. They didn’t go out much, since Sirius didn’t have many friends outside of James and Lily, and what with James being such a good cook they didn’t have much need for eating out.

  
This was why Sirius felt at least a bit suspicious when Lily suggested they go out to eat, and evidently James did, too.

  
“Why?” James asked bluntly once she suggested it, without taking his eyes off the screen of the TV on which he was once again playing Resident Evil. “We never eat out. If you want dinner I could just make something.” He smiled a bit arrogantly up at his girlfriend. “And you know it’ll be better than any restaurant could make.”

  
Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know, but whenever you cook our kitchen always ends up looking like a war zone.”

  
“Or in this case, my kitchen.” Sirius piped up. “God, you guys do realize that you have your own apartment, right?”

  
Lily ignored him. “My point is, there’s a new sushi place nearby and I wanted to try it out later this week.” James paused the game and looked up at her. “Why? I don’t even like sushi.”

  
Lily raised her eyebrows at James in a way that distinctly communicated the words; ‘Shut up! We talked about this!’ Sadly, Sirius wasn’t perceptive enough to pick up on this. “Oh, right.” James responded. “Okay, cool.” Lily nodded with satisfaction

  
“Oh, and I thought we could invite Remus.”

  
Suddenly Sirius was 100% tuned into a conversation he had previously only been half listening to. “Why?”

  
Lily shrugged. “He doesn’t have a ton of friends, and I thought it would be nice for us to get to know him better.”

  
And abruptly, without warning, the butterflies in his stomach were back and more active than ever, and once again Sirius didn’t know why.

  
The butterflies (Or maybe they were bats? They felt more like bats to Sirius) set up shop in Sirius’ stomach again and stuck around or the next three days before the dinner.  
Sirius ate almost nothing in the day leading up to the meal, downing only a granola bar before work. He spent way longer than usual on most of his walks, drawing them out and taking routes he didn’t usually take as his mind became totally lost in thought.

  
Sirius managed to pull himself back to reality before he was too late to dinner. He rushed to drop of the dog he was walking and sprinted to his car, his stomach more jumpy than ever as he drove to the sushi place. He ran inside and quickly spotted James, Lily and Remus sitting on cushions around their table. He brushed himself of, smoothed out his hair and walked over as nonchalantly as he could.

  
There was only two cushions left, one next to Lily and the other next to Remus. In a split second decision Sirius sat himself down next to Remus, a decision he quickly regretted, although he didn’t know why.

  
Evidently they were having an argument about whether sushi was actually good, and Sirius chimed in, saying that he did enjoy it. “There’s just something about raw fish.” He added. Lily looked smugly at James, stating that he was outnumbered.

  
So, that meant that Remus liked sushi too. Sirius filed this information away with a small smile.

  
A couple times throughout the dinner Sirius caught Remus staring up at his hair (which he had put up in a bun) with a puzzled look on his face. Sirius instinctively patted it down, wondering how he had thought that such a dumb and preppy haircut would be appropriate to wear in public.

  
Sirius’ meal came with a gigantic pile of wasabi, and as soon as it arrived he and James shared a knowing look.

  
Whenever one of their meals came with something spicy it was only polite for one to dare the other to eat it all in one bite.

  
“I dare you to eat all that wasabi on one sushi roll” blurted James, but Sirius had already started piling it on. Sirius wasn’t looking at Lily but her eye-rolling was audible.  
It wasn’t long before Sirius was writhing on the ground, his mouth burning up. Boy could he not handle his spicy foods, even after years of being dared to eat entire jalapenos and bottles of hot sauce in one mouthful.

  
“Damn you, James Potter, you’ve killed me! I’m going to die but before I do, I curse you and your crops and any potential offspring for a thousand years!” He heard Lily laugh and mutter something to Remus. Suddenly he became painfully aware of how ridiculous he must’ve looked.

  
After Sirius had recovered and the dinner began winding down, James stood and announced that they had to leave. Sirius wasn’t really paying attention until he heard James say his name. He was talking to Remus.

  
“Would you mind if Sirius drove you home? He lives closer to your house.”

  
Sirius’ heart jumped and his head jerked to look at Remus, who had suddenly grown pale. “I—that’s fine with me as long as Sirius it okay with it.” He replied after a while.  
Sirius felt his face drain of color. He saw Remus look at him out of the corner of his eye. James was looking at him, too, and so was Lily. Lily was smiling, her expression a bit too self-satisfied. Sirius realized they were waiting for him to answer and he simply nodded.

  
On the walk back to the parking lot Sirius lagged behind. James was muttering something to Remus and Lily was searching frantically for their car which James had parked, and he could never remember his parking spot.

  
James pointed out Sirius’ car to Remus, who got in as James jogged up to Sirius urgently. He looked like he had something important to say, and suddenly Sirius felt worried.

  
“Hey, man. Did you know that Remus doesn’t know who you are?”

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“I mean, like, he doesn’t know about you… about your family.” He said, his voice almost a whisper as if someone could be listening in.

  
It took Sirius a second before he realized what James meant, although he couldn’t say that he was surprised. Remus hadn’t brought up Sirius’ family, and he hadn’t yet fired him (although up to that point he’d just assumed that Remus had been courteous enough not to bring it up).

  
“How could you not have told him?” James asked urgently. Sirius saw in his friends’ eyes a look of strange worry, and suddenly Sirius went on the offensive.

  
“I didn’t think it was pertinent.” He replied frostily.

  
James looked a bit taken aback. “Alright.” He said curtly. “I’ll see you later.” He didn’t look back as he walked to his and Lily’s car.

  
When Sirius slammed the car door on his side it made Remus jump, but Sirius didn’t notice.

To be totally honest, Sirius couldn’t put a finger on why he was so angry. It definitely had something to do with the fact that Remus hadn’t known about Sirius’ family. Sirius felt like he had a right to know, despite the fact that their relationship hadn’t gone past employer-employee.

  
Plus, James had really gotten under his skin. For the past couple days Sirius had had the sinking feeling that James and Lily had been talking behind his back, possibly about him. For some reason, James’ reaction had made this feeling arise in Sirius. Once again he didn’t like feeling left out.

  
Remus glanced at Sirius a couple times throughout the car ride, the look on his face profusely confused. Sirius, however, stayed staring straight ahead, ignoring Remus to the rest of his ability. Neither of them talked.

  
After parking outside of his house, Sirius turned to Remus, who raised his eyebrows.

  
“Remus, I… There are things you don’t know about me.” He said it as if it explained everything, although the look on Remus’ face made it clear that it didn’t. Sirius continued.

  
“I don’t think I should keep being your dog walker until you know these things."

  
Needless to say, Remus looked taken aback. He seemed totally lost in thought for a couple seconds before he replied.  
“That’s idiotic.” He said finally.

  
Now it was Sirius’ turn to be surprised. “What…”

  
Remus continued; “That’s really dumb. You’re just my dog walker. As long as whatever you think I should know doesn’t interfere with you walking my dog, I don’t care.” He paused and laughed lamely to himself. “Unless you were the one who caused Drew to lose his leg.” He looked into Sirius’ eyes “You weren’t, right?”

  
Sirius didn’t smile. “Uh, no.”

  
“Good.” Remus replied before getting out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave any comments you might have. :)


	10. Part Ten: Pastries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus doesn't know how he feels about Sirius anymore, but he does know that he wants to keep him around.

Remus slammed his door, panting. He was suddenly very tired. His back slid down the inside of the door until he was sitting on the floor. Drew heard the door shut and rushed down the hall, skidding down the hall and arriving in front of his owner to lick his face. Remus pet him absentmindedly, thinking about what had just conspired.

  
He had been so forceful towards Sirius, using a tone that he almost never used. He had just been so afraid that Sirius would insist he stop being Remus’ dog walker, when Drew had improved so much (He was currently taking his owners distracted state as an opportunity to lick his hand furiously).

  
Remus was just worried that Drew would backslide if Sirius went away, but there was also some other, deeper feeling he had about Sirius leaving that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

  
Suddenly Remus felt exceedingly tired. He tried his best to set aside his worry and have a good night’s sleep, expecting to fail.

 

 

Remus didn’t have to work that day, and he had never craved work more than he did then. He just wanted some kind of distraction. He considered calling Lily to see if she wanted to hang out, but it was almost three hours before he gathered the confidence and willpower to actually do it.

  
Her voice was a bit sleepy despite how late in the morning it was, and Remus wondered what she and James might’ve been up to late into the night that would cause her to sleep so late.

  
She perked up after Remus suggested she come over, however, and promised to be there in under an hour. She lived up to this promise, arriving at his house in no less than forty-five minutes with a box of pastries. Remus marveled at her punctuality.

  
They sat eating pastries and watching early morning cooking shows before Remus got confident enough to mention his conversation with Sirius the night before.  
“So, uh, Sirius said something kind of weird to me last night. I wanted to, uh, ask you about it. See if you could figure out what he meant.”

  
She turned her whole body towards him, her eyes scarily focused. She smiled. “Well usually James is better at deciphering Sirius’ intentions, but I’ll do my best.” Remus smiled weakly.

  
He repeated to the best of his ability everything that Sirius had said, and then how he had responded. Lily looked puzzled, and Remus could see that the gears in her head were turning. Then, realization dawned in her eyes.

  
“He must be talking about his family.” She said gravely.

  
“What.”

  
“Oh right.” She averted her eyes from his. “You don’t know.” She seemed to be brainstorming a way to break the information to Remus nicely. “Sirius- the Black family has a really bad reputation, and I mean a really bad one. He’s been turned down for a lot of jobs for it. I guess when he found out that you didn’t know about them he felt like he’d been lying to you.”

  
Remus digested this information for a moment. He knew that the name had seemed familiar, but Sirius’ reaction made zero sense to him.

  
“Yeah, well.” He replied. “I meant what I said. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I like Sirius, I mean I really like him, and I’m not going to let his heritage get in the way of that.”  
His tone was uncharacteristically forceful, and it didn’t take a lot of figuring out for Lily to realize what he was saying. They sat in silence for a moment before Lily’s eyes lit up.  
“Well that can only mean one thing!” She said brightly. “You need to ask him out!”

  
Before Remus could protest Lily was already on her feet and pacing. “I think he really likes you too, so you should totally make the first move!” He was smiling wildly, and Remus knew that there was no use in pointing out that he was sadly inexperienced in making first moves.

  
Lily’s striking green eyes were focused on Remus’ face, searching for a response.

  
Remus searched mind for something to say, coming up tragically empty.

  
“I’ll-uh-I’ll think about it.”

  
Lily seemed a bit disappointed with this lackluster reply but she didn’t say anything. They finished off the box of pastries before Lily had to leave for the evening shift at the library where she worked. As always, she was abandoning Remus with simply his disorganized jumble of thoughts for company.

 

 

It took a lot of wrestling with his own doubts before Remus broke his rule about not looking someone up on the internet. The name ‘Sirius Black’ sat in the search bar for five minutes, Remus’ hand hovering over the enter key before he actually pressed it.

  
Countless news stories popped up about the child of national celebrities being bounced from school to school for misconduct, before eventually being placed in one of the most prestigious schools in the country. He stuck around for exactly a year before running off at 17 to live with his best friend from childhood, with enough family heirlooms under his arm to pay for his new life.

  
Remus stopped himself before going any further, deeply aware of what a breach of privacy this all was. Not only was he violating Sirius’ personal privacy, so was every news outlet in the country.

  
Remus cautiously clicked an editorial about Sirius’ family tree.

  
His dad was the owner of an extremely profitable company that had been investigated countless times for fraud, although it was too bulletproof and powerful to actually be affected by this. His mother was a minor political personality, and a couple of his cousins were semi-A-list celebrities.

  
Sirius and his brother were the only stand outs.

  
Sirius’ brother Regulus had been diagnosed with leukemia at an early age. Since his father had enough money to buy any treatment that was rumored to work, Regulus survived longer than most would in his position, but it wasn’t enough. The sickness got worse until he died at the age of fifteen. Sirius ran away to days later, not even bothering to attend his brother’s funeral.

  
Within the different news stories Remus saw an extremely broken and lonely person, two traits that he could relate to.

Ten minutes later Lily received a call.

  
“Remus? Why are you calling me? You know I’m working!”

  
“I’ve thought about it, and… I’ll do it.”

There was silence on the Lily’s side for a second before she squealed, slamming her hand over her mouth before she got fired. Remus could hear her giggling.  
“Alright then!” she said, her voice smiling as she hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave any comments you happen to have!


	11. Part Eleven: Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and James have a serious bromance moment.

Sirius began sweating on the drive home, and he had pretty much soaked through his shirt by the time he pulled up outside his flat. He stared up at his window for almost a full minute before pulling out his phone.

“Sirius? What’s up?”

“James, I know it’s late, but could I stay over at you guys’ place tonight?”

When James paused, Sirius could see the look on his face. It was expression that he’d seen many times before, calm and compassionate and determined. It was the face James had worn the night Sirius had shown up on his doorstep after running away, and it was probably part of the reason Lily liked him.

James let out a light sigh, whether involuntary or not. “Alright, come over.”

           

Coming to Lily and James’ apartment never failed to make Sirius feel better, because it had once been his. It was where he and James had lived after Sirius had run away, before Sirius had been able to get a place of his own. Lily hadn’t moved in until later. Despite years of his absence the place still smelled like the days when he and James would subsist off of cup noodles for every meal.

James answered the door in his boxers, trying hard to mask his worry. Sirius had had nights like this before, nights where he didn’t want to spend any time alone.

Before letting him go to bed James made Sirius sit down and explain the situation.

The more Sirius talked about his conversation with Remus the more he wondered why he was so broken up about it. As a matter of fact, Remus had taken on the subject of Sirius’ heritage better than any other person he had ever met, besides James. At the back of his head Sirius wondered if his own overreaction had prompted Remus to actually look into the Black family and decided to take back what he’d said. The thought made him shiver.

James didn’t react when Sirius finished his story. He was usually pretty compassionate, but only to a fault. Plus, he knew that Sirius was able to work through his own stuff, it would just take him a while.

They hugged it out afterwards, one of those awkward guy hugs that was overly bony and warm, but where both parties knew that the thought was what counted. Sirius tried to ignore the fact that his friend wasn’t wearing a shirt.

Neither guy felt the need to apologize for yelling at the other earlier that night, this was enough. Such was the nature of their relationship.

Lily appeared in the doorway while they were hugging, only to roll her eyes and return to their bedroom.

That night Sirius slept better than he had in a while.

 

The next morning Sirius was the last to wake up (as usual), and once again to the smell of cooking food.

He took his time making his way from the guest room to the kitchen, where he arrived to find James working hard at creating a giant mess on the kitchen counter. Lily was sitting with her knees to her chest looking at her phone. When Sirius came in she looked up for a split second.

“Oh right, you’re here.” Her voice was deadpan but her smirk let him know that she didn’t mind.

“Yeah, well, I thought it was about time I turned the tables.” He replied. “You two freeloaders are always over at my place, I wanted you to see how you like it.”

James placed a plate in front of Sirius the moment he sat down; thick golden brown French toast with giant blood-red strawberries. He placed one in front of his girlfriend, too, before pecking her on the cheek, but she was too invested in her phone to notice.

James waved a hand in front of her face. “Hello? Earth to Lily?”

She jumped and sat up. “Sorry, I was reading this article about book censorship.” James smiled at her while Sirius whispered ‘nerd’ under his breath. Lily laughed.

The moment Lily placed her phone on the table, however, it began to buzz. Sirius almost jumped right out of his seat, moving the table two inches away from him. “Sorry.” He gasped, seeing all eyes were on him. “I’ve had _enough_ of ringing phones lately.”

Lily rolled her eyes and answered the phone.

“Oh, hey Remus.” She said after a moment, and when she saw Sirius’ expression she glared at him and got up to leave the room. He didn’t get to hear the rest of the conversation.

Sirius and James sat in a half tense, half comfortable silence before Lily returned to the room, her coat now in her hand. “I’m gonna pick up some pastries and go visit Remus at his place.”

Sirius didn’t say anything, he simply followed Lily with his eyes as she walked around the apartment getting her stuff together. He didn’t reply when she said goodbye before walking out the door. Once she was gone Sirius turned his wide eyes to James, who was trying his best to hide a smile.

Sirius spent the rest of the day lazing around the apartment and watching James fail consistently at Resident Evil. They hardly talked and spent much of the day in comfortable silence, such was the nature of their relationship.

Sirius was scrolling absentmindedly through his phone when James said the first thing in a couple hours that wasn’t angry swearing.

“Hey, uh, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but Lily really wants to set you up with Remus.”

Hearing this statement, Sirius didn’t say anything for a solid three minutes. He felt like he was going through all the stages of grief.

How had he been so stupid? Of course Lily had been trying to set the two of them up. The phone calls, the dinner, everything had just been her. He had been so nervous he hadn’t even seen through it all. He didn’t know whether to feel angry or grateful.

“Right.” He replied. It was all he could say at the moment.

“I hope that doesn’t make you angry at her.” James continued as if he hadn’t heard Sirius at all, his eyes still fixed on the TV screen. “She cares about you, and she wants you to be happy.”

Sirius looked at James’ face, which betrayed no emotion. He realized how rare it was to have your significant other care about your friend’s wellbeing.

“You’re lucky.” Said Sirius bluntly. Finally, James looked up.

“Lucky?”

“Yeah. You’re lucky to have Lily. She’s a great person.”

James nodded, his expression still not betraying anything. “You’re right.”

They were silent for a couple more minutes, before;

“I think I love her.”

Sirius jerked his head towards James, who was still refusing to make eye contact. He raised his eyebrow incredulously (it was rare that James was ever so candid with his feelings, and when he was it usually took a lot of convincing).

“Uh…What.”

James sighed and paused his game. He seemed exasperated with the fact that he had to repeat himself. “I think she might be the one. Like THE ONE the one."

Sirius stared at his friend with his eyes wide for a couple seconds.

“James, that’s…that’s awesome.”

“I know.”

Sirius received the call around sunset. He glared at his phone as it rang, feeling extremely tired of phone calls. James raised his eyebrows at him as he let it ring.

“Seriously man, you can’t ignore it forever.”

Sirius made a low growling sound as he begrudgingly lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Remus.” Sirius had a sharp intake of breath which caused James to glance as him.

“Oh, uh, hi?”

“Yeah, hi, um…” Remus paused, letting the awkwardness congeal in the air. “I wanted to-uh- I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go for it.” Sirius didn’t know how he could sound more nonchalant when his heart felt like a bag of microwave popcorn inside a microwave.

“Would you want to, like, go out sometime? Like on a date?”

Sirius was frozen. His hands were clammy. Why had he never felt like this before? He was usually the first one to make a move in these kinds of situations, and now that the tables were turned he felt cheated and at a total loss for words.

“I’ll have to think about it.” he blurted, hanging up before Remus could say anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave comments pls!


	12. Part twelve: The Supermarket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus has to take a break from sulking to go to the supermarket, to find that it was the best decision he could've made.

Remus was shocked, he was astonished, he was… sad. He was saddened by Sirius’ response to his date request. Despite his general ignorance when it came to dating, Remus wasn’t stupid. He knew that “I’ll think about it” was essentially code for ‘it’s never gonna happen’.

After Sirius hung up, Remus debated calling Lily for almost half an hour. He eventually decided not to. He didn’t want to make her angry at Sirius, he didn’t deserve that. He had every right to turn him down, he wasn’t _obligated_ to accept every date request that came his way (and Remus assumed that he got a lot of them).

Remus didn’t blame him, no. Of course he didn’t, why would he?

These were lies that Remus told himself in the hours following the phone call. The truth was, he did blame Sirius. He completely hadn’t factored in the idea that he might say no into the equation.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Normally, Remus could control his emotions. He could tell when his thoughts were unhealthy and was able to tell himself to stop.

Except this time. This time his sulking didn’t stop for three days. Even when he tried to distract himself with work the same words would eventually come crashing back down on him; ‘I’ll think about it.’

He got a message from Lily the day after the call; a nonchalant ‘I’m sorry about Sirius :/ I’ll talk to him.’

Remus almost texted her back telling her not to talk to him, but the truth was he wanted her to. He wanted her to give him hell, actually. To enact her wrath upon him. So instead he simply said; ‘thanks.’

Remus was so busy sulking, in fact, that he hardly noticed that his food supply was dwindling until after the three days were up and he woke up to a cabinet that contained only a single box of cream of wheat. He choked down a bowl of it and decided resolutely to leave the house that day.

Hailing a taxi and going to the supermarket, something that usually would’ve stressed Remus out immensely, was instead a nice reprieve from how lonely his flat had felt the past few days. The relief was almost enough to distract him from the fact that he was in a strange-smelling car with a complete stranger.

The supermarket was exactly as he remembered it, and luckily everything was in the same place they had always been- he could be in and out without much trouble. At least that’s what he thought until…

Long black hair, tied into a bun, bobbing above the aisles. Remus could recognize it anywhere. Suddenly, he had the strange urge to find a table to hide under, like his fight or flight reflexes were activating.

Sirius was a couple aisles away, but he was nearing fast. Remus’ heart was beating way faster than he thought would be reasonable.  

What do you do in this situation? Should he walk into the fire or run away?

‘ _Be the bigger person,_ ’ Remus told himself. ‘ _Don’t make this weird, he did nothing wrong you know that.’_

For once, Remus was extremely unsatisfied with being the bigger person.

Remus tried to calm himself as best he could, and began walking in the direction he had been going in, knowing that his and Sirius’ paths would soon converge.

Remus turned the corner to find Sirius browsing the tea selection, appearing to have just gotten out of bed. Remus thought he looked radiant in his ratty grey sweatsuit.

Remus wanted more than anything to turn around, but he was out of tea and Sirius was standing right in front of his favorite brand.

Remus sauntered up to him as casually as he could.

“Uh, hey.”

Sirius whipped around, his eyebrows shooting towards his hairline. Remus was suddenly painfully aware of their slight height difference, feeling like he was looming over the other man.

“Oh, hi.” Said Sirius, the shocked expression refusing to leave his face. Remus motioned to the boxes of tea behind Sirius.

“Uh, you’re in front of…”

Sirius looked confused for a second before a look of recognition dawned on his face. “Oh, right!” and slid out of the way.

Remus spent an inordinate amount of time deciding which brand of tea to get, dreading the moment when he would turn around and have to look at Sirius’ face again.

Sirius was the first one to break the tense silence. “Hey, uh, about earlier.”

Remus didn’t turn around, trying his best not to make his tension obvious. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, I thought about your offer and…yes.”

Remus’ hand gripped the box of tea he was holding, denting it. “What do you mean?”

“I mean yes I will go on a date with you.”

Remus was glad that Sirius couldn’t see his face, because it had suddenly been overtaken by an almost maniacal smile.

Remus tried his best to keep his hands from shaking as he took down the information for the time and place of the date, smiling coolly as Sirius walked away.

As soon as Sirius was out of sight Remus felt like collapsing on the floor of the supermarket, but he kept himself composed until he reached his car, where he eventually began to giggle excitedly, head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave any comments you have!


	13. Part 13: Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The supermarket, from Sirius' perspective.

As soon as Sirius put the phone down, he regretted everything. When he glanced up at James, his best friend looked just about ready to murder him right then and there; and to be totally honest, dying felt like a pretty good pretty proposition at the moment.

 _Why_ had he _done_ that?

The simple answer was; he’d frozen up. He hadn’t seen the offer coming, and it had hit him like a blow to the chest when he had been expecting a hug. He liked Remus, but he at least could’ve given him some warning, _any_ warning

“So. I assume that was Remus on the phone.” James said drearily. He didn’t sound as angry as his expression conveyed, just disappointed.

“Yeah.” Sirius sighed. “I-I don’t know, man. I froze.”

James rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Jesus, Sirius. Do you realize how much Lily and I have gone through to try and set you and Remus up together?”

Sirius wanted to laugh, but nothing came out.

“Well, at least you didn’t say _no_. We can still salvage this.” Said James. This time Sirius did laugh; bitterly. “I don’t think so. I might as well have said no. There’s no turning back now.” Sirius rolled his shoulders attempting to get rid of all the knots. “We should just cut our losses and move to New Zealand without telling Lily or Remus where we’re going.”

Sirius knew he was being dramatic, but it was the only thing he knew to do in this situation. James sighed, knowing when his friend was inconsolable.

What Sirius dreaded the most of the results of his bad decisions was Lily’s wrath. He didn’t know how Remus felt about Sirius’ rejection, but he did know that Lily would not in any way be happy about Sirius’ potentially hurting her friend.

When Lily returned home-after James had steadfastly refused to cover his friend’s ass-Sirius had to actively deny his instinct to go and hide.

She was smiling when she walked in, so Sirius could only assume that Remus hadn’t told her the news. She came into the living room and beamed at the two of them like she knew something that they didn’t when the situation was, in fact, tragically reversed. Somehow, the grim expression that Sirius gave in return didn’t dampen her spirits.

“So!” she said in her characteristically bright voice that hid a plotting demeanor. “How was you guys’ day?” She threw her bag onto the ground. James shifted awkwardly in his seat.

“Well, uh.” He said, looking at the floor. “Not much, except…. Remus called. He-he asked Sirius out on a date.”

Lily smiled even more broadly. “Really!” she said, clearly already aware of this fact.

“Uh, yeah.”

“And what did you say?

Sirius reddened. “I, well-I said I’d think about it.”

Lily didn’t react, and she seemed to be taking strangely long to process what he had said. “What? Why”

Sirius shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t know, I just froze up.” Lily, like James, didn’t look as angry as Sirius had expected her to, just disappointed. This still wasn’t great, and it was even worse coming from her.

“Christ Sirius, come on. We worked so hard to get you to together, and you tear it all down like that?”

James piped up finally; “I still think we can salvage it, I mean he didn’t say _no_ , exactly.”

Lily shot her boyfriend a withered look. “Don’t be naïve, James. He didn’t say no but he might as well have.” James looked defeated.

The worst thing about it was that where he’d expected anger Sirius received a kind of vague disappointment, but there was at least one person who was angry at him: himself. He scolded himself for missing out on an opportunity he’d been wishing for since dragging Drew to Remus’ doorstep. He wondered if Remus was as angry as he felt about the situation, but knowing what little he did about him Sirius thought he was probably just disappointed, too.

Lily walked out to text Remus about the situation, and James and Sirius sat together in silence. This atmosphere persisted until Sirius eventually went home at the end of the night.

When Sirius returned to his lonely apartment, it felt strange and melancholy. It was like he was coming home after months at sea, when he knew it had only been about a day.

He sat around for another day or two, losing sleep on nights when he normally would’ve slept like a rock, but he eventually had to walk someone’s dog. It was one of his more boring walks, and he didn’t think the dog enjoyed in any more than he did. His head was so stuck in the clouds that he hardly noticed the tugging on the leash.

On the third day Sirius’ loneliness overtook him and he went back to James’ and Lily’s apartment for pizza.

It was fun for a while, although the novelty of watching James fail consistently at Resident Evil could only last so long. Lily went into the kitchen to get snacks, only to find that they were out of tea and other essential goods.

“I’ll go to the market!” Sirius piped up, already halfway into his jacket. He suddenly had the impulse to go for a drive somewhere, to clear his head.

He took the scenic route to the supermarket, reciting the list of foods they needed in his head (and almost crashing the car in the process).

He shuffled like a zombie through the familiar isles of the market, eventually finding his way to the tea section. He stared dreamily at the rows and rows of colorful boxes, not really registering any of the brands or flavors. Boy, was he tired; somehow more tired than he’d been in forever.

Suddenly, Sirius heard a meek “Uh, hey.” Come from the end of the aisle. He turned to find a tall, thin, Remus-shaped figure staring back at him. His mouth fell open. He had rapidly been made aware of the fact that he was dressed like someone’s alcoholic mum, where Remus on the other hand was dressed like a young model in one of those woodsy fashion magazines.

“Oh, hi.” Wow, could he sound any more different than how he felt inside? He tried desperately to wipe the shocked look of his face but it was just too stubborn.

They stared at each other for a moment, equal in shock, before Remus motioned limply to the tea display; “Uh, you’re in front of…”

 Sirius felt himself blush, powerless to stop it. “Oh, right!” He gracelessly stepped out of the way.

Sirius stared at the place where the hair became scarce and gave way to skin at the base of Remus’ neck, his thoughts an indecipherable flurry of nonsense. However, the one thing that stood out to him was the memory of what James had said a couple days before; “Hey, we can still salvage this.” While Sirius had been skeptical at the time, it suddenly felt like the best advice ever.

“Hey, uh, about earlier.” He said hoarsely. Remus’ back tensed visibly and Sirius regretted the fact that he couldn’t see his face.

 “Yeah, what about it?” Remus said, his voice cracking.

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut like he was preparing to get punched. “Well, I thought about your offer and…yes.”

 “What do you mean?” Remus’ tone had increased in pitch even more.

The next part felt like he was squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube. “I mean yes I will go on a date with you.”

Remus’ posture didn’t react, and when he eventually turned around to exchange information he was totally-straight faced. Sirius, too, mode an effort to stay composed until he got to his car, where he immediately dialed James’ number with shaky fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave any comments you have.


	14. Part 14: Prep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Lily prepare for the dreaded date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, sorry it took me so long to post this, and for it being so short. I've been having serious writer's block in relation to this story.  
> leave any comments you have :)

Dates were curious things. In his life, Remus hadn’t been on many. He’d had a girlfriend at one point in primary school—which didn’t last long for obvious reasons—and a boyfriend for a hot second a couple years ago. There had been crushes and people he’d kissed once at a parties, but otherwise his experience with dating was almost nonexistent.

It didn’t help Remus self-consciousness that he perceived Sirius to be all that much better dating. I mean, he was so handsome and extroverted, clearly he was more experienced with this whole dating business.

Remus was at a total loss for what to do or say for a whole day after Sirius first asked him out. He spent the time wandering aimlessly about his house, wondering if Sirius had really said yes. He kept having to look at the note on his phone that recorded what day they were going out to remind himself that it had, in fact, happened.

It didn’t occur to him to call Lily until the next day, but before he could she texted him herself, saying that she was coming over and there was nothing he could do about it. This was a weight off of his shoulders; Lily would come by, and she would take care of everything. Make it all better.

Lily arrived half an hour later with a couple coffees, chocolate pastries, and her usual endearing smile. Remus let her in silently as she beamed at him and launched immediately into some excited rambling.

“Oh my god, Remus, everything is coming together! What date did you set up?”

Remus told her the date they had decided on.

“Alright, good—so we have three days to prep.”

This statement puzzled Remus. He’d never known dates to be something you’d have to prepare for, other than sitting around staring blankly at space, wondering how you’d managed to trick someone into going out with you.

“What is there to prep for…?” Remus asked, sounding as cautious as he felt.

Lily smiled, biting into a pastry; “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna give you are makeover or anything. There are just…some things you should know about Sirius.”

Remus shrugged; unlike himself, Sirius seemed like a relatively well-adjusted dude.

Lily sat herself down on Remus’ couch and pulled him down with her.

“First of all, don’t mention his parents, but that should be a given.” Remus nodded, but Lily wasn’t done yet.

“Actually, don’t mention his family at all; _especially_ not his brother.”

This wasn’t too hard so far.

“Oh and if you really want to get on his good side, compliment his hair. He fucking loves his hair.”

Remus nodded, suddenly feeling like he should be taking notes.

Lily kept talking for almost half an hour, piling information into Remus’ brain. He didn’t even try to tell her that she wasn’t really helping, and that her words perhaps served only to make him even more nervous about the encroaching date.

           

By the time the day of the date arrived, Remus was thoroughly confused by all of Lily’s contradictory advice; which while not exactly good did serve to distract him from his nerves.

They agreed to meet at some random restaurant that Sirius suggested since Remus so rarely went out, and it wasn’t until he arrived at the place that Remus realized what a bad idea this had been. He wouldn’t know what to order, or where any of the bathrooms or emergency exits were? What if the building caught on fire, how would he know where to go?

Plus, this place was _nice_ , way nicer than Remus would’ve expected from Sirius. He knew he was technically very wealthy, but seeing all the candles and besuited waiters seemed to really cement this fact in his mind.

All his worries fell away, however, when Remus saw Sirius sitting at his table, waiting, unable to see Remus from where he was sitting. Yes, Remus was no longer worried because all of his brainpower was now occupied with trying not to faint.


	15. Part Fifteen: The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius finally begins his date with Remus, and it's just a awkward as he expects.

Sirius’ legs shook as he carried his bags of groceries up to Lily and James’ apartment. For the past fifteen minutes his mind had been relentlessly switching between regret and excitement, constantly imagining both the look on Remus’ after he’d said yes, and what James and Lily’s faces would look like when he told them what had happened.

            Walking into the apartment Sirius found the couple sitting silently on the couch, both watching the TV as flashes of blood and zombie brain danced onscreen. He smiled wildly at them, but neither looked up.

            “Guess who I just saw.”

            Neither answered.

            “ _Guess who I just saw at the supermarket you guys_.” He louder, in his trademark attention-seeking tone.

            Lily looked up but James stayed glued to the television.

            “Who did you see at the supermarket?” she asked, her voice utterly uninquisitive.

            “Remus” Sirius replied, and suddenly the couple was paying total attention.

            “What? Really? What happened?” asked James quickly, not even bothering to pause the game as his character got ripped apart.

            “Well, I followed up on his offer and….we’re going on a date in three days.”

            Lily squealed in a way that was totally unlike her, smiling at Sirius before turning to her boyfriend. “Everything is coming together!!”          

            Lily disappeared for the next day. She didn’t tell Sirius where she went but it didn’t take a lot of Sirius’ valuable brainpower to figure out where she was. He wondered how much about him she was telling Remus. It worried him, but only a little.

            Sirius did almost nothing to prepare for the date, he never did. He had a single nice button-down shirt that he would take to the dry cleaners but that was about it.

            It wasn’t until the last minute, then, that he remembered to set up a reservation at his favorite restaurant for dates. He favored this place particularly because it was always nice to see the look on his date’s face when they walked into the candlelit building, suddenly wondering if they should’ve worn better clothes. He still liked to splurge every once and a while, although it wasn’t as if he’d been on many dates lately.

            Sirius arrived first as usual, holding a bouquet of flowers that he’d decided to get on a whim on the way there—an uncreative grouping of yellow tulips.

            Sirius sat rigidly in the seat that he’d reserved, using up all of his brainpower trying not to sweat to the point that he didn’t notice that Remus had come through the door until he was standing right behind him.

            “Uh, hi!”

            Sirius jumped and turned, almost dropping his flowers. “Oh! Hi! These are for you!” He shoved the flowers at Remus as he sat down.

            “Oh-tulips yeah? Okay, tulips are nice.” Stuttered his date. Sirius wasn’t sure what this meant and had to stop himself from spending the rest of the date trying to decipher it.

            “Yeah, hope you like them.”

            “Do you…do you know what yellow flowers…mean?” Remus asked tentatively. Sirius felt wary all of a sudden “No? What do they mean?”

            “They symbolize friendship.”

            Sirius sight. Of course he’d managed to make a mistake on something as simple as flower choice. He fought the urge to apologize, feeling that it would only make things even more awkward.

            What came next was a part of the date that Sirius was painfully familiar with; the part where you sit silently across from the other person as you both fail to think of something to talk about. The only reprieve came when the waiter dropped by to take their orders—well, to take Remus’ order; Sirius had been on enough dates to this place for them to know what he wanted (a steak, so raw it was almost still alive). Remus ordered a salad.

            Sirius was wracking his brain for conversation topics, but the same thing kept coming to his mind, constantly forcing him to push it back: _where did those scars come from?_

            “Where did those scars come from?” _Wait. Did I say that out loud?_ Sirius’ thoughts suddenly stopped focusing on his own social ineptitude and was now focused on possible modes of time travel.

            Remus sighed. Sirius recognized the expression that now occupied his date’s face; it was the expression of someone who was extremely tired of getting this particular question. Sirius wanted so badly to sink right into the ground.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to leave your comments!


	16. Part 16: Yellow Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus suddenly holds a vendetta against Sirius, and for good reason. The date progresses very much not according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAGH I'M SO CLOSE! I think I made better time on this particular chapter, but it's still way late. Sorry.
> 
> Leave any comments you have ! ;-)

Remus hadn’t been on many dates in his life, but on the ones he had been on he always ended up getting the same question. He planned for it, and yet he was never really prepared.

            Remus was half angry at Lily for not warning Sirius not to ask this the way that she practically begged him not to question Sirius about his family. But he knew that he couldn’t blame her any more than he could blame Sirius; she wasn’t his handler or anything, she couldn’t control him.

            It eventually got down to Remus practicing responses to this question, trying to find the best way to diffuse the situation and move on.

            But with Sirius, it should’ve been different, right?

            Remus was so lost in thought all of a sudden that he almost didn’t see the look of complete and utter regret on Sirius’ face. _Good._ He thought. _That was a very impolite thing to do._

            “I was attacked by a rabid dog when I was young.”

            Sirius became even paler. “Sorry, about that. I’m sorry for asking, I shouldn’t have.”

            Remus nodded. “You’re right.” He bit back a question about Sirius’ family, telling himself to be civil.

            Remus looked down at the flowers Sirius had bought him. Yellow, for friendship, although he was sure Sirius hadn’t intended that meaning. It was cute, really, and endearing. Plus, Remus did like tulips.

            “So, you’re a dog walker.”

            “Yeah.”

            “What made you want to do that?”

            And suddenly, the last minute or so had ever happened. Sirius’ face lit up and he launched excitedly into a description of just how much he really loved dogs and taking care of them and how dog walking and dog sitting was really his calling. God, Sirius had his flaws but he really was cute.

            “I’ve just always really loved dogs. It probably helped that we were never allowed to pets when I lived with my family. Then, when I moved out I never lived anywhere where I could keep pets, so after doing a buncha odd jobs for a while I decided to become a dog walker. Honestly I don’t know how I didn’t think to do it before.”

            Remus was silent for a moment, making a mental note of the fact that when Sirius said “we” he meant him and his now-dead brother, and that when he said he “moved out” he really meant that he ran away from home with a bag of stolen valuables (at least that’s how Remus imagined it).

            “It’s really cool that you really found your calling.”

            Sirius shrugged. “Well, not exactly. I mean, it would be nice if it paid a bit better.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table (An action that Remus was positive that his date had been raised not to do). “What do you do, anyway? Like for a living.”

            Remus sighed. “I code, for whatever companies hire me. It pays pretty well—at least by the standards of a student—but it’s boring as hell.”

            Sirius nodded. “I can imagine.”

            And yet, the conversational lulls came around once more; and again Remus was left to stew in his anger about the question that Sirius had brought up a couple minutes earlier. That’s just not polite dinner conversation.

            Maybe it wasn’t nosiness, though. Maybe Sirius was just curious. Clearly he had trauma too; maybe he just wanted him to share.

            And if he wanted to know, well, maybe he should.

            “I was attacked by a rabid dog when I was ten.” Remus started, examining the thread count of the tablecloth (which was very high). Sirius’ surprise was tangible, but he didn’t say anything, so; Remus continued.

            “I was already a really sickly kid, I got the flu and stuff all the time. Then, when the accident happened it got even worse. I was in the hospital way longer than I should have been, and was home bound for even longer. My dad fucking hated it, but it’s not like there was anything he could do about it.”

            Remus still refused to look up for a second before glancing up to Sirius, his face totally and delicately composed. “So, there’s that.”

            Sirius swirled his wine for a while, watching it slosh around the sides of the glass. It was almost a shock when he spoke again.

            “I was seventeen when my brother died.” He said softly, softer than Remus had ever heard him talk in the short time they’d known each other. Suddenly, Remus knew that he was in for a wild ride.


	17. Part 17: Steak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date progresses...interestingly

Sirius had never actually had to explain the situation with his brother out loud before, at least not all at once. James knew because, well, he was _there_ when most of it happened. Lily knew through James, who had been merciful enough to shield Sirius from her reaction.

            Otherwise, Sirius’ bosses or significant others always already knew through the way the story got chopped up and spit out by the media (which always tended to put a bit of a damper on the chosen relationship).

            Remus was the only one who’d had to have it explained to him, and in the middle of Sirius’ favorite restaurant of all places. Sirius kept stumbling over his words and having to double back to tell earlier parts that he’d forgotten. His own incompetence almost managed to distract him from what he was actually saying. Almost.

            It hurt, but Sirius had hurt Remus about the same amount mere minutes earlier. And then, Remus had actually told him something, something that must’ve been very painful to tell him. Sirius figured that this was an acceptable exchange.

            When Sirius was finished, Remus didn’t react for a while. He chewed at his food like he was planning on chewing it forever.

            “That’s….” Remus said after a while. “It’s good you told me that, Sirius. I mean, it’s not good, obviously, but….Thanks.” He nodded, seeming at least a little satisfied with this response.

            “Um, thanks.”

            Things were quiet. Well, they weren’t really. There were people making noise sitting everywhere around them; but to them it was quiet. And of course it was; there wasn’t much either of them could say at this juncture.

            Yet, Sirius still felt the need to say something. Something stupid, too, as was his way.

            He laughed, staring down at his steak as it grew cold on his plate. “God, we really are broken.”

He glanced up at Remus, knowing immediately that he’d said the wrong thing. This was confirmed by the look on his date’s face, shocked and possibly slightly paler than usual, although it was hard to tell.

Sirius was about to get up and walk right out of the restaurant when Remus laughed tersely.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” He said between giggles.

Soon, they were both giggling. They then moved on to full-blown laughing, in the middle of a crowded restaurant no less. They laughed loudly all the way back to Sirius’ cat, at least that’s how it felt.

It wasn’t until they were standing right outside of Sirius’ car door that Remus seemed to become lucid again (It didn’t occur to Sirius to wonder how drunk they might actually be).

“So, um.” Started Remus. “You’ve seen at least part of _my_ apartment, but come to think of it I’ve never seen any of yours.”

The drive was quiet.

The closer they got to Sirius’ apartment, the more all his insecurities began to weigh on him. _What if he thinks my flat is shitty? I’ve seen how nice his is; mine isn’t nearly that nice. I haven’t cleaned in weeks. And what is the endgame of this night anyway? Does he have something planned that I don’t know about? Who am I kidding, clearly he does…_

Sirius had to quit his worrying, however, because they had reached the door of his apartment at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a bitch. More soon I promise, I hope to wrap this up soon.  
> leave comments, If you have them ;-)


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